Generally, conventional methods for installing a passenger handle to an inner wall of an elevator car can be divided into three types as follows.
FIG. 1 is a sectional view illustrating a typical elevator car, and illustrating a passenger, and a handle assembly.
As shown in FIG. 1, a cylindrical handle 10 is longitudinally attached to an inner wall of the elevator car at a suitable position to be gripped by a passenger. Generally, the handle 10 is held on the inner wall of the elevator car by brackets 20 separated a suitable distance from each other, and coupled thereto by fasteners 30 such as bolts and the like connected to the brackets.
FIG. 2 is an enlarged sectional view illustrating one example of conventional handle assemblies.
As shown in FIG. 2, each of the fasteners 30 such as bolts and the like is connected to one end of the bracket 20, and penetrates a wall 11 of the elevator car. The protruded fastener 30 is tightened by a washer or a nut at from the outside of the elevator car, and thus fixes the handle 10 to the wall of the elevator car. Such an assembling operation of the handle is generally performed after the decoration of the interior of the elevator car, and placement of the elevator car to the hoistway in a building. However, if the assembling operation of the handle is performed by an unskilled serviceman, there is a possibility of falling from the elevator car which is suspended in the hoistway, since it is necessary to perform the assembling operation outside the elevator car.
FIG. 3 is a sectional view illustrating another conventional handle assembly in an assembled state.
As shown in FIG. 3, the handle assembly further includes a C-shaped cap 25 enclosing a bracket. The cap 25 has a dimension to define a predetermined space therein in a state of being coupled to the bracket 20. Thus, a handle is assembled to an inner wall of an elevator car in such a way of coupling the cap 25 to the inner wall using a fastener 30 such as a bolt and the like inside the elevator car, followed by inserting the bracket into the cap 25, and fastening the bracket to the cap 25 using a small screw in a state wherein the bracket is inserted into the cap 25.
However, for this handle assembly, since the bracket is coupled to the cap by the small screw, engagement of the cap and the bracket loosens after a long period use, which finally causes the loose attachment of the handle to the inner wall of the elevator car. In addition, since the handle assembly generally includes several brackets (three or four brackets), there is a difficulty in alignment between the cap and holes for the fastener, which are previously formed in the wall of the elevator car.
FIG. 4 is a sectional view illustrating yet another conventional handle assembly in a disassembled state.
As shown in FIG. 4, a fastening plate 50 is welded to one end of a bracket 20, and then coupled to an inner wall of an elevator car by a fastener. In this handle assembly, since an assembling operation of the handle can be performed within the elevator car, it is possible to ensure the safety of the serviceman. However, since the fastening plate 50 extends out from both sides of the bracket 20, it is exposed outside the bracket, and in particular, the fastener comes into sight of the passenger. For an elevator car laying an emphasis on interior decoration, exposure of the fastening plate to the sight of the passenger becomes a serious problem. As a result, such a handle assembly has not been commonly applied to elevator cars placing an emphasis on interior decoration.
Considering the problems of the conventional handle assemblies, the applicant of the present invention has filed an application of a handle assembly for an elevator with improved workability as a utility model on Dec. 23, 2002.
FIG. 5 is a sectional view of the handle assembly of the applicant. In this handle assembly, a bolt 30 is screwed from an outer wall of an elevator car into the elevator car, and a handle is fixed to an inner wall of the elevator car by rotating a nut within the handle such that the nut is engaged with the bolt. However, since elevator cars are output from factories in a state wherein bolts are previously fixed to plates of the elevator car that act as the walls of the elevator car, so that, when stacking the plates, bolts protruding from one plate causes scars on another plate stacked thereon, thereby making it difficult to previously fix the bolt to the wall of the elevator. In addition, this handle assembly is inconvenient to fasten a washer and a nut to the bolt through the handle in practice.
Furthermore, since every conventional handle assembly described above employs the handle machined to have an opening instead of employing the handle as a cylindrical body itself available in the market without machining, additional machining costs, and material costs are required.
In order to solve this problem, the applicant of the present invention also filed an application of a handle assembly as shown in FIG. 6 as Utility Model Registration No. 9996 on Apr. 12, 2004.
This utility model was designed to solve the problem of the conventional handle assembly, and it is an object of this utility model to provide a passenger handle assembly for an elevator, which allows every operation to be performed within an elevator car without previously fixing a bolt to a wall of the elevator car in a factory, thereby ensuring the safety of the serviceman, prevents a fastener from being exposed to an outside of the bracket, thereby avoiding damage of the interior decoration of the elevator car, and provides secure engagement of the handle to the elevator car so as to keep the secure engagement of the handle for a long period of time, making maintenance of the assembly convenient.
As shown in FIG. 6, a plurality of external nuts 60 are attached to an outer wall 1 of the elevator car to be aligned with a plurality of through holes spaced a predetermined distance from each other on the outer wall of the elevator car, respectively. A first fastener such as a bolt and the like is connected to an associated external nut 60 through a through hole in a wall of a handle support 100 via a space in the handle support 100, and is tightened by a wrench to securely fix the handle support 100 to the wall of the elevator car.
With the passenger handle assembly as described above, every operation can be performed within the elevator car without previously fixing the bolt to the wall of the elevator car in the factory, thereby ensuring the safety of the serviceman, the fastener is prevented from being exposed to the outside of the bracket, thereby avoiding damage of the interior decoration of the elevator, the engagement of the handle to the elevator is firm, thereby keeping the engagement of the handle to the elevator car secure for a long period of time, which makes maintenance of the assembly convenient.
However, recently, the elevator car has a decoration plate attached inside thereof. Although the elevator may employ a thin decoration plate, a significantly thick decoration plate can also be employed. When a thick decoration plate is attached to an inner wall of the elevator car, there is a problem in that the distance between the cylindrical handle and an outer surface of the decoration plate is narrowed. In some cases, when a passenger grips the handle, it can be difficult to insert the hand into a gap between the handle and the decoration plate. Thus, it is necessary to adjust the length of the handle of the elevator car. Herein, the term ‘length’ means a distance between the handle and the inner wall of the elevator car.